As of release 23.05, there is a possibility to create a new KPI(s) for collectors that support custom KPIs:

• Create a Custom KPI Definition for input-based collectors
• Assign the Monitoring profile and KPI group 
• Define input table records
• Schedule the Collector job for monitoring the Custom KPI (OPTIONAL)

Above mentioned points are represented as separate screens through which you set up the whole KPI monitoring. Wizard will guide you through these steps and when you confirm the setup, the KPI is ready for monitoring. 

KPI Wizard functionality 

You can start the KPI Wizard from the KPI Group Context menu > Create custom KPI. Wizard is displayed and you need to go through all its steps.

Wizard steps 

Wizard for KPI creation contains several steps. Each step functionality is explained in more detail in the next chapters.   

Start

The starting screen of the wizard where a short description of the KPI Wizard's purpose is displayed. 

Creation method

This step provides the possibility to choose a method for KPI creation. For this scenario, we are going to use the option Create by KPI rules (input table). The option to select between system/server and server type will become available. Set these according to collector documentation based on the source of information for KPI(s). A list of collectors with custom KPI definitions can be found in the chapter List of Collectors with a Custom KPI.

Define a Custom KPI 

This screen serves for KPI definition where you need to fill up the following fields:

Definition 

1. (MANDATORY) KPI name: Name of a custom KPI that does not exist on the system. If you wish to create more KPIs at once, use a placeholder % at the end of the KPI name, which will be later substituted by unique identifiers through input tables.
2. (MANDATORY) Description: Short description of the KPI which is displayed in the KPI Chart or other outputs as a KPI label.

3. (MANDATORY) Collector: Name of the Collector that calculates the KPI. You can only enter collectors that support custom KPI creation. If unsure, use F4 help for this field which will provide a list of these collectors. Alternatively, you can find the list in the official documentation (DI-2305) List of Collectors with a Custom KPI.

Properties 

1. (RECOMMENDED) Unit: Unit of a measurement which is displayed next to the KPI value in the chart.
2. (OPTIONAL) Decimals: Number of decimals which is displayed in charts. An empty field means that no decimals are displayed.

3. (MANDATORY) Monitoring area: Monitoring area of a system, which is specific for a KPI. A KPI is collected only for specific Monitoring areas, such as SAPSYS, BW, ERP, CRM, SRM, and others. To select a Monitoring area use the search help (F4), which displays only existing Monitoring areas.

Chart Settings (OPTIONAL)

You may set the lower and upper limits for displaying your KPI chart. 

• Lower/Upper limit mode: Mode according to which your KPI chart is displayed. 
  
  • The limit is calculated from minimum/maximum values. 
    
  • The limit is a fixed value.
  • The limit is calculated from fixed and minimum/maximum values.
• Lower/Upper limit value: Value of the selected limit mode, based on which your KPI is displayed in charts.
• Chart line type: Simple line, Spline line or Discrete line.
• Logarithmic Y scale: Y-axis labels are values of the common logarithm (decimal).
  
• Don't display KPI in charts: By the selected checkbox, the KPI isn't displayed in charts or the KPI group list. For example, you may select this field if you want to use the KPI value for other KPI calculations or aggregations.

Collection settings 

In this step, you have to define a monitoring period for the KPI and you can also assign a KPI group under which KPI will be displayed in the KPI tree. 

Period 

If you define a period for which already exists more than one Monitoring profile with the same period, the selection tree is displayed. You can assign only one Monitoring profile for KPI calculation.  

Otherwise, if the Monitoring profile does not exist within the provided period, a new custom Monitoring profile name is generated. It is allowed to generate only custom Monitoring profiles starting with Z* or Y*. 

KPI Group 

You might assign a different KPI group by clicking on the Change KPI group button. The KPI Group selection tree is displayed and you must select only one KPI group from the tree. 

Define inputs for KPI 

You can define new KPI(s) through input tables. Each collector has different criteria and different input table(s) which are edited by a dynamic sub-screen. All available input tables for the collector we selected will be displayed in this wizard step.

You can edit the input table by clicking on Edit the button next to the table name, after which another sub-screen will be displayed where we can define rules for new KPI(s):

Each input table has different fields, but all input tables have one common mandatory field:

• KPI name: This field is important and reflects the name you defined in the second step of the wizard:
  • If your KPI name contains '%' In the end, you can define multiple KPIs but they need to match the pattern before '%' (in this case ZCUST) and need to have unique ending characters. Use only alphanumerical characters and '_' to replace '%', other characters will be stripped. The naming convention also appears in the table title as a reminder.
  • If your KPI name contained only alphanumeric characters or '_' you can define a single KPI only in this table where the name reflects the KPI name we defined in the second step of the wizard.
• Other fields - as stated before, each input table has unique fields that change how KPI is calculated based on the collector. We can refer to collector documentation from the chapter (DI-2305) List of Collectors with a Custom KPI.

Scheduling settings   

You can schedule a Collector job for KPI monitoring directly through the wizard. The wizard checks whether the Collector job for provided Monitoring profile and System ID is already running or not. There can be multiple scenarios:

• Collector job does not exist: Message Collector job <JOB_NAME> does not exist appears. You might check the Schedule collector job as checked to create and start a new Collector job 
• Collector job is not scheduled: Message Collector job <JOB_NAME> is not scheduled appears. You might check the Schedule collector job as checked to start the existing Collector job.  
• Collector job is running: Message Collector job <JOB_NAME> is  running. In this scenario, you will not see the Schedule collector job option.
• The collector job is paused: Message Collector job <JOB_NAME> is  paused. You might check the Schedule collector job as checked to start (resume) the existing Collector job.

When the Collector job is already running, in the next step you will be prompted to confirm whether you would like to restart the collector job and add a new KPI to the monitoring. Restart the collector job to start the monitoring of KPI immediately. 

Confirm setup

This step serves as a confirmation of the custom KPI setup. All provided setup is saved after clicking on the Complete button. 

Finalization output 

Last step of the wizard. On the screen below you can see the output as the result of the KPI setup.